


Cry of the Mer Extras

by FantasyOcean



Series: Breaking Free [3]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-22
Updated: 2020-09-27
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:07:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 20,209
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24321046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FantasyOcean/pseuds/FantasyOcean
Summary: A collection of Cry of the Mer shorts - scenes from alternate points of view, peeks into the pasts of the various characters, and moments to expand upon backstories or details there wasn't time for in the original story line. I do take requests for this.
Series: Breaking Free [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1342162
Comments: 9
Kudos: 5





	1. Chapter 1

**So this is a collection of Cry of the Mer shorts and extras. This will mostly be a series of scenes from Luna's point of view. Things from her past and scenes that have already happened, but from the different perspectives. It may also include the same for other characters such as a look into the pasts of Katie and Riley as well. Basically all the world building stuff there isnt time for in the main plot.**

**This is mostly what I'll be writing on my phone on my breaks at work to keep readers having some content as I cannot work on Heart of a Mer while there. Most of you know the situation already, so this is my compromise for less main content. I do take requests if there's something specific you want to see.**

**please keep in mind because this is just bonus stuff, I will not be keeping to any real schedule nor to my usual 3k word minimum per chapter. These will not necessarily be chronological and will vary in length and update times. Additionally, I'm sure we're all familiar with the horrors of autocorrect and typing on a phone so these are not necessarily going to be up to my usual writing, editing, or formatting skills. It's just my attempt to keep providing some content during the quarantine times while I'm also working and cant guarantee weekly Heart chapters anymore. That said, I hope you enjoy.**

It was dark and cold, save for tiny slits no thicker than a fingernail that danced stripes of light over the young Mer's body. She shivered. She was tiny, and yet the dark cage was smaller still, forcing her to curl into a tight ball to fit properly. It was not hard to cool up, but after so long remaining motionless, her muscles were beginning to ache.   
Her pen lurched sharply and Kera whimpered. She dug her nails into the thick, porous barricade that surrounded her on all sides. It was like the twigs and driftwood that sometimes floated along the surface, but much stronger. It creaked as she dug into it and she winced as slivers bit into the pads of her fingers. She pulled her hands away.   
When they’d first dropped her inside, the humans had dumped large, sodden heaps over her to keep her moist, but she was breathing dry air. Dusty, heavy air that hung in her lungs and choked her with a lingering smell of rot. Her confinement jerked again, the force throwing her bodily into the side and soliciting a fearful warble from deep in her throat. Her deep blue scales knocked against her chin and she grit her teeth to keep from biting her lip or tongue.   
While the crate was previously in motion, this time the jerking had been to pull it to a halt and Kera sat with her heart thinking wildly within her chest as she strained for any noise or indicator. She no longer had a concept of time, sealed up in the dark like this, but it felt like ages passed before her shaking started.   
The tremors gradually worsened until there was finally a sharp splintering sound and light flooded her field of view, forcing her to squint. Her azure eyes blinked several times to clear her vision, but once it had, she almost wished it had not. A large pair of hands, coated in a strange, thick brown material were descending towards her. She shrunk back and hissed softly, her lips pulling back to reveal tiny fangs. The child's attempt was rather pathetic and did nothing to impede the hands' approach.   
Kera whined low in the back of her throat and tried to shy away but there was nowhere to go still trapped as she was. The hands clamped tightly around the base of her tail, crushing the sides of her fin where it met the scales and she cried out, the sound barely louder than a squeak.   
Her heart was pounding desperately within her chest as she was lifted and swung around out of her cage in a single fluid motion. Kera's eyes swam in her head as her surroundings spun. She bucked weakly in the clenched grasp suspending her upside down. Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes at the deep ache spreading through the top of her tail, which was not meant to support the rest of her weight. Terrified clicks spilled unbidden from her lips as she was swung one more and released. She dropped the short distance and connected with the ground – which was coated in a smooth, hard surface that was unlike anything Kera had ever felt before and was could to the touch – with aloud smack as her forearms hit first, followed by the clack of her scales as her tail crashed down behind her.   
Kera winced and then scrambled backwards, curling her throbbing tail close to her side and gazing around. She hissed again, showing her teeth like she had been taught, but she could not stop the tears that welled in her eyes and distorted her vision. She did feel very threatening.  
Clearly the humans did not find her overly intimidating either because they all simply stared at her with varying levels of interest. There were five of them – including the one who had grabbed at her – all standing around. There were two in her immediate view, and the one was still behind her casting a shadow over her, while the final two stood more to either side, flanking her. She felt just as penned in as she had in the wood box and the twitch of her cerulean fin betrayed her stress.   
One of the humans stepped forward. A burly Male with no hair - except for a brown bushy bunch that sprouted around his nose. Kera found it an odd spot but then, humans and Mer were very different. He was cloaked in a long white garb – they all were – and had his hands stuffed out of sight into holes on either side. He towered over her and stared down his long nose with hard blue-black eyes that made her cringe. His voice was loud and deep as he barked at the others in a language she did not yet understand. Mer were usually able to rapidly understand a dialect, even if it took them longer to replicate it, but Kera was still very young and often struggled with the feat.   
A conversation struck up and Kera could not help but swivel her head in the direction of each new voice that joined in. The humans all loomed over her and their garble was eager and boisterous, and it only wound her nerves tighter until her quivering began anew.   
Then the final voice joined the talk, piping up behind her with a low, sinister tone that chilled Kera's heart. She started when the man began to talk and slid a bit further away. The moment she moved, she had five pairs of eyes staring at her. Tears slipped from the corners of her eyes to drip down her cheeks as she sunk low to the ground and cowered.   
The human that initiated the conversation broke the silence once more. Kera managed to catch a single word. Begin. Begin what? She swallowed the lump in her throat and chewed her lip until it slit and the sharp tang of her blood spread over her tongue. Part of her wished she had not understood. The humans began to disperse, though most seemed reluctant. One lingered, another male with strange pieces of sea glass covering his eyes, held in place by a rigid strip perched on his nose. He had his head cocked as he watched her, and she shuffled beneath his gaze. There was none of the hungry eagerness the others had displayed and instead it was a calm wonder that lurked in his hardened gaze, as though there was strategy to figure her out. She did not like this curiosity any more than she did the others and she bared her teeth uselessly once more.   
The human began to chuckle and with a shrug of his shoulders, turned and walked away. His departure left her alone with the human that brought her in. For a moment, she had almost forgotten about him until his hands squeezed down around her tail once more. She cried out as she was dragged across the ground and then hoisted up and dropped bodily onto a hard smooth surface that clanged loudly when her scales connected with it. She tried to twist and curl back up again, but his hand was like a vice as he shoved her down and pinned her by the back of her neck. Spittle flew from Kera's lips as her tail thrashed and she wrenched at her head in an effort to get free. She hissed , but it was a desperate noise clogged with fear.   
The man clucked his tongue and squeezed at her neck until Kera gagged on her lack of air. Each breathe was a wheeze and she could barely get anything into her lungs. Feeling dizzy, she collapsed and fell limp as her vision spun with angry black dots. Only once she was completely still did his grip loosen enough for her to grasp and fill her lungs.   
Kera's breathing remained ragged and shallow as her stress levels elevated. Her vision spun and her body caved to the fear, falling to a limp dead weight against the frigid surface that raised bumps along her skin. She had never felt so alone or afraid before and desperately longed for her mother’s warm, comforting arms to gather her up and hold her until she calmed and the nightmare faded away. As thick straps were pulled over her back and tail and tightened to hold her down, Kera closed her eyes and tried to imagine being back home. The sound of her mother’s steady heartbeat, her smooth kelp green scales warm against Kera's cheek. Her father planting a hand on her head, making her feel loved and protected. She grasped for her comforts against the stark horror that had become her reality. While it brought her a brief reprieve and rush of warmth, her moment was shattered by a loud squeak as the surface she was on lurched into motion. It was a bumpy ride and Kera whimpered and tried to push against the bindings holding her down, but the child was not physically strong enough to resist and helpless against whatever the humans intended with her. 

Later that night – at least she thought it was night; it was dark and quiet but she could not see the sky to know if it held sun or stars – Kera lay shaking and alone. She was back in the water and for that she was grateful – she did not like being dry or held out of the water where she could barely move and everything stood high above her like threatening beasts. Every time she closed her eyes, her mind flashed back to what had happened.   
They had taken her to a bright room with a harsh light that hurt her eyes. There had been so many hands, but they felt funny. They had been coated in oddly colored substances that smelled off and rubbed along her flesh in an almost sticky manner. They had pulled at her arms and her tail, forcing her limbs to bend in all directions until it hurt. They had seemed especially fascinated with how her tail moved. Kera had squirmed the whole while, hissing fearfully at them, but it had only made them squeeze her tighter. One of the humans had pulled her arm a little too far and hard the wrong way. She heard the snap only a heartbeat before she felt it, but Kera had never screamed so loud before. Raw agony had ripped up her arm and left her sobbing.   
After they had broken it, the humans forced her to lay still under a noisy white box that flashed bright lights in her eyes, and then they had stared at a black thing with bones on it that made her shudder. She had cried when they moved her broken arm some more, but they had pressed it to her chest and coated it in a thick hard shell that prevented her from bending it. It squeezed too tight and she wanted to chew at it still, but they had coated it in a sticky goo that tasted very poorly and forced her to back off.   
The humans had plucked some of her scales and jabbed her with a thin pointy object that pulled her blood into a tiny container. One of the humans had sliced his thumb on her fang when they had pried her mouth open to look at her teeth. It would have been satisfying if he had not backhanded her like it was her fault. Her face still stung from the blow.   
But the worst thing was when they focused on her fin. They had pressed it flat and the man who brought her in had used a sharp, shiny spine to slice a piece off. It had only been a tiny piece, but it had been agonizing. If she felt along the edge, she could find the bit that was a little too flat and smooth, unlike the rest of her fin edge that had lots of grooves and tiny bumps. It burned mightily whenever she moved it which was why Kera was lying flat with her belly against the cold glass of the new, clear cage she was being kept in. The water was shallow enough that if she sat up, she would be breathing air again, but at least it was larger that the wood cage. She could swim about two strokes in any direction if she wanted.   
She shivered. She wanted to go home. Kera had been starting to understand the human language a lot more by the time they had left her alone. Although most of what they said made little sense because she did not know the objects or ways of land, it did not seem they had any intent in releasing her. They wanted to study her. Kera was frightened of what that meant. She wanted to tell them to put her back in the ocean, that she wanted to find her family again, but she could not. She could learn to mimic their words if she wanted, but she did not want to speak to them. Her parents had warned her to stay away from the people of land because they were greedy and destructive with an insatiable curiosity. They felt the need to take apart everything they did not understand until they did. She had seen it today. Once they had found out her tail could bend and flex, they had wanted to try it with the rest of her body, and she had earned a broken bone for their efforts. She did not want to know what they would do if they learned she could understand any language after a small frame of time. They might rip open her head or ears to try to figure out why.   
Kera had always been wary of humans after the warnings the adult Mer always gave, but now they were nightmarish monsters come to life and they terrified her with what they could do to her.   
Kera abruptly sat up, bursting through the surface of the water with a gasp. She could not take the dead, stale taste of the lifeless water anymore. She bit her lip and felt more tears brim in her eyes as she hugged her good arm around her waist. She began to rock back and forth, finding little other comforts in her surroundings. Squeezing her eyes shut, she began to murmur to herself in the soft clicks of dolphin whistle, the language she knew best. “Mommy, she whimpered. “Please, I want to go home. Come find me. I need you.”   
With no one else to talk to, she spoke to the emptiness, repeating herself for a little while with tears flowing down her cheeks. After some time, Kera was startled put of her trance by the sound of footsteps. She spun around with wide, horrified eyes, convinced it was another human come to drag her back for more ‘samples' and hurt her again. Instead, she caught the retreating expression of wonder and thoughtfulness on the older man who had regarded her like a riddle earlier. He was gone in a few heartbeats and she was alone again, but she could not shake the look on his face from her mind. She was young, but she was not stupid – at least, she did not think she was – and he seemed like he had just discovered something he liked. But she had not done anything new, had she?  
As she thought about it, another sound reached her ears. It was faint and grainy, like spoken with hands covering the mouth, but above her was a faintly musical voice. It was speaking in human tongue, but did not appear to be speaking to anyone directly. Instead it sounded like singing. Had it been there the whole time? Kera gulped and sunk low in the water until it hugged the bridge of her nose just beneath her eyes. She stared at the door the man had left through. She knew that sometimes Mer could get pulled from speaking in one tongue to another without realizing if they heard it. Had she been speaking in his language? Had she just made things so much worse for herself?   
  



	2. Home

A loud blaring ring broke through the tranquility of the dark apartment. Groaning, Sophie rolled over and slapped a hand down on her nightstand as she fumbled for the source of the sound. It was her phone. Her fingers curled around it and dragged it closer. The clock on the front screen showed that is was just after two. She winced and swiped the screen to answer the incoming call before pressing the device to her ear. “Hello?” she inquired groggily.

“I’m sorry to call so late, Miss Brooks,” came the response.

Sophie pushed herself up a bit more in bed, a frown creasing her lips as her eyebrows dipped inward. “Jerry? Is something wrong?” she demanded. There was no other reason the night guard at the front gate would be calling her directly.

There was a hesitation on the other line. “I think you’d better come down here,” he admitted. “I don’t even totally know how to explain.”

“I’ll be right there,” she agreed. She hung up and threw the covers off, sitting up and the rising from the mattress. She was filled with a sense of urgency she could not quite explain away. There were rarely any problems the guards could not handle on their own, she was rarely ever called to handle matters – and never at night – but Jerry had sounded freaked and the uncertainty was spooking her too. She didn’t bother with getting dressed properly, instead simply grabbing a long open coat and hastily stuffing her arms into it as she made her way out into the hall. She kicked on a pair of sandals and hurried out the door.

As she approached the front gate, Sophie found Jerry standing outside, shifting his weight from foot to foot. He was short, with a buzzed head, and despite working the nightshift always came crisply dressed. She admired his dedication and loyalty over the years. He was one of the oldest standing employees she had, aside from Lewis, but Lewis didn’t count. He opened the place with her.

Now, however, Jerry looked disheveled and stressed, rubbing the back of his neck. The second he noticed her, his eyes widened and he hurried over. “Miss Brooks, I’m sorry to call so late, but I didn’t know what else to do. I had to let her in, I couldn’t just leave her-”

Sophie held up a hand to silence his frantic rambling. “It’s alright, Jerry, just tell me what’s going on? Who are you talking about?” she urged. She would deal with whatever the situation was after she was informed.

Jerry sighed and rubbed the back of his head again. Finally, he beckoned with two fingers and she silently followed him back to the small hut beside the gate. “She just showed up asking for you,” he stated as he stepped out of the way. Sophie’s frown deepened and she pulled her coat tighter, crossing her arms to keep warm as she stepped up into the hut.

She pulled up short instantly at the sight before her and her heart sunk into the pit of her stomach. Sitting in Jerry’s chair, with her feet swinging, was a young girl that Sophie had come to consider a niece. She was swinging slightly side to side in the swivel chair with her head bowed. Sophie frowned and crouched down, placing a hand on the arm of the chair to hold it steady. “Katie?” she inquired.

When the nine-year-old looked up, her hazel eyes were red and puffy, and her nose was running.

Sophie’s heart broke a little more. “Sweetheart, what are you doing here? How did you even get here?” She reached up and tucked a fly away behind the child’s ear. Her brown-blonde hair looked like it had been tugged into a hasty ponytail, and now was pulling all free. Katie lived twenty minutes away by car, and Sophie was beyond horrified to find her here alone.

She waited patiently for an answer. Katie sniffled and rubbed her nose on her sleeve. “Mo-mommy,” she whimpered. Her voice cracked and she began to cry again, fat teardrops sliding down her rosy cheeks. She was probably exhausted.

“Where is your mother, Katie?” Sophie pressed. Roxanne had been far more distant than Sophie would have liked. She was never a kid-person, and Sophie knew she had taken Michael’s death hard, but she still had a daughter who needed her and depended on her. She tried to call and visit after the funeral as much as possible, but despite them all being close friends in high school and through college, Roxanne had grown distant after marrying Michael and she had no desire for Sophie’s company now. She’d started to miss Katie as the weeks went by, and was worried about how the two were getting on.

Katie shrugged and more tears spilled from her eyes. She hiccupped and picked up the small pink purse sitting in her lap, then held it out towards her. “She t-told m-me to gi-give you th-this,” she sobbed. The second Sophie took it, Katie covered her face in her hands.

Sophie glanced down at the purse and her frown morphed into a grimace. So Roxanne knew Katie was here. That left an incredibly rotten note in Sophie’s mouth. She needed more of the story than Katie was clearly capable of giving. “Okay. Katie, honey, I have to go talk to Jerry quickly. You stay right here, okay?” she requested. “I’ll be right back, alright?”

Katie sniffed again and nodded. “Okay,” she whimpered.

Sophie patted her knee and then reluctantly stood up and backed out of the booth.

Jerry was standing there, leaned against the side with his foot tapping against the pavement and his face mashed into his hand. He still looked freaked, so Sophie laid a hand on his shoulder, then quietly apologize when he spooked and stood ramrod straight. “Miss Brooks! I’m sorry again, but I didn’t know what else to do. I let her in and made sure she was alright, but a kid out here at this hour, I just…”

“It’s okay,” Sophie assured him. “Thank you. I’m glad you called me; you did the right thing. Can you tell me what happened? She was by herself; her mother wasn’t with her?” Sophie pressed.

Jerry shook his head. “No. I mean, I saw a car drive by pretty quick a couple of minutes prior, but I can’t say for sure who it might have been. She came trudging up to the gate with her little purse and that,” Jerry paused to nod as a small purple rollaway suitcase that was propped against the wall. “She looked terrified and half asleep, and she started asking for you. I barely heard her the first time, she spoke so quietly. I asked her where her parents were, and she started to cry! I just figured it was better to get her in here off the street before pressing anything else. Someone really ditched just her here? Who is she?”

Sophie sighed and ran a hand through her disheveled curly hair. It was sticking out in all directions and she wanted it off her face. “Her name is Katie. Her father was a dear friend of mine, and I knew her mother from school as well. Michael died recently and it’s been a hard loss. Roxanne isn’t really the motherly type but I never imagined she might pull a stunt like this.” She shifted her weight and glanced at the small purse in her hands. “I guess I should actually see what’s in here. Apparently, Roxanne told Katie to give it to me.”

She unzipped the purse and reached inside, finding a sloppily folded stack of papers wedged inside. Frowning, Sophie smoothed out the pile and found the top page to be a letter. She squinted in the low light provided from the guard booth. Jerry stepped forward and held his phone up with the flashlight turned on, illuminating the flowing cursive. It was definitely Roxanne’s handwriting. “Thank you,” she said, nodding at Jerry. He hummed in acknowledgement and held the phone a little higher for her.

Sophie scanned the letter quickly. It was hastily written, with sloppy lines that had her squinting to make out a few words.

_Sophie,_

_Sorry for the late hour, but this simply couldn’t wait until morning. These last few weeks have not been easy, but I’ve had a lot of time to think, and I’ve decided to move back home to L.A._

Sophie paused in her reading with a frown, confused, until she remembered that Roxanne had moved to the area with her father when she was fifteen. They all expected her to move back when she graduated high school, but then she and Michael got together, and she stayed. Her mother’s family all still lived up in America. She shook her head and kept reading.

_I’ve caught a red-eye and the house is already taken care of – though I’m leaving you a key if you need to get in there for any reason in the next few days – so there’s no reason for me to stay. I realize that I’m putting you in a tricky situation and you’ll probably think lesser of me for this, and that’s fine, but I’ve made my decision. I’m not a mother, Sophie, I never was, and I never wanted to be. Katherine was Michael’s. He wanted kids and I was willing to compromise, but I did my part in the first nine months. He took one the rest of the responsibility and that was fine with both of us, but I’m not prepared to take that burden on now._

_I know that sounds selfish and shallow, and perhaps it is, but I do think that Katherine will be better off in a different environment, with someone who wants to take care of her and love her. If she was older, it might have been a different situation, but she’s still young and I want to return to focussing on my career. She would just get in the way and would never get any of the attention a child probably needs. As bad a person as it may make me, I have no desire to stick a child in a corner to grow up alone while I give my heart to my job._

_I realize that this is very sudden, and I would not blame you if you did not want the responsibility either, but I know she likes you and you her, and you’ve always wanted kids. Her birth certificate is in the bag, as well as the adoption papers, you just have to sign them. You’re already listed as her godmother, there shouldn’t be an issue, and if there’s any problems, you can find the number of a lawyer I hired to help arrange everything. But, if you do decide that it’s not a good time or you aren’t prepared to take her in, I’ve already spoken with an agency, just give them a call and they’ll pick her up._

_Goodbye, Sophie. Take care of yourself,_

_Roxanne._

Sophie was stunned. She reread the letter to make sure she actually understood what was written on the pages. Roxanne was gone – she wasn’t coming back – and she didn’t even have the decency to call or walk Katie to the gate and make sure she got in okay. She’d dumped her on the sidewalk and sped off.

Sophie grit her teeth. “Dammit!” She twisted and beat the flat of a fist against the wall of the hut. She rifled through the documents and the purse, finding the rest of the promised things. It only bothered her more that Roxanne seemed to have put ample thought and effort into this, but couldn’t be bothered to muster any concern for Katie’s actual wellbeing.

“Everything okay?” Jerry inquired hesitantly.

Sophie sighed and shook her head. “I could kill her right now, but it doesn’t matter. Right now, I’ve got a distressed kid to look after. Katie’s going to be staying with me for a while,” she decided.

“How long is a while?” Jerry asked. His tone was dark, like he already knew – or at least suspected – the answer.

Sophie merely nodded. “A while,” she repeated. She didn’t want Katie overhearing and getting even more upset.

Jerry’s expression darkened further, and he nodded. “I’ll help you carry the suitcase up if you like.”

“I would appreciate that,” Sophie agreed. She carefully folded all the documents back into the purse and stepped back inside the guard booth.

Katie looked half asleep with her elbows on her knees and her chin cupped by her palms, but her eyes were still red and puffy, and she looked back up when Sophie came back in. “Auntie Sophie? Where did mommy go? She told me to come inside to see you.”

Sophie grimaced and she knelt down in front of the girl again. “Roxanne had to go away for a while,” she said, selecting her words carefully. “For work; you know how she sometimes has to take trips.”

“Lots of times,” Katie murmured, and Sophie’s heart squeezed at the girl’s blunt, forlorn tone.

“I know it’s hard, honey. But you’re going to hang out with me this time, okay?”

“Okay,” Katie agreed. Her voice was small, and her shoulders slumped.

Sophie clucked her tongue sympathetically. “Hey, what if I call your school tomorrow and excuse you for the rest of the week, huh? I’ll take off work, and you and me will just hang out and have some fun, okay?”

“Really?” Katie inquired.

Sophie grinned. “Absolutely,” she agreed. “Come on, sweets, lets get you upstairs; it’s late.” When Katie nodded, Sophie stood up and wrapped her arms around Katie. As she hefted her into her arms, she felt Katie wrap her arms around her neck.

“I can walk,” Katie protested softly, her warm breath tickling Sophie’s ear. The woman carefully adjusted the girl in her arms and hugged her closer.

“I know,” Sophie replied. “But I want to hold you.” She gently rubbed circles on Katie’s back through her sleep shirt as she carried her out of the booth and back across the park. It was silent, save for the buzz of various filters and the occasional puff from a dolphin blowhole. The noise had Katie tensing in her grasp and Sophie couldn’t help but chuckle. No fear of the sharks or rays, but the dolphins of all things were what frightened the child.

Once they were back in the apartment, Sophie set Katie down and turned to thank Jerry for his help. His lips were pressed to a grim line, but he nodded and wished her luck before retreating back down to his post. Sophie closed the door and released the breath she didn’t know she was holding in a heavy blast. She took a moment just to lean her forehead against the door before pulling herself together and standing back up again. She made her way into the open floorplan that made up her living room, dinning room, and small kitchen.

Katie had clambered into a chair and was slumped down on the dinning room table. There were tears making steady tracks down her cheeks again.

“Katie?” Sophie reached out and placed a hand on the young girl’s shoulder.

Katie sniffed and dragged the sleeve of her pajama shirt under her nose. “She didn’t even say ‘goodbye’,” she whispered.

Sophie’s heart broke a little further and she wrapped her arms around Katie from behind, resting her chin atop the crown of her head. “I know. I’m sorry, Kate; she shouldn’t have done that, it wasn’t very nice. But it’s going to be okay. You need to get some sleep and things will be better in the morning.”

Katie had slept over a handful of times before – usually whenever Michael and Roxanne had gone out for a date night that they predicted would run late. Katie was usually pretty good about going to bed when she was told, even if she took a while to fall asleep when not in her own bed. But tonight, she shook her head and broke down in heavy sobs.

Sophie knew it was likely a mixture of stress and being overtired, but she patiently gathered Katie back into her arms and rocked her while patting her back. It took several minutes for Katie to calm down and her cries to pitter off into the occasional hiccup or whimper, and Sophie had a large, sodden patch on her shirt by the end of the ordeal, but she didn’t pay it any mind.

Katie was clinging to her and shivering at this point, and Sophie hated to send her straight to bed like this. “How about a snack?” she suggested. “Are you hungry?”

Katie nodded, so Sophie sat her back down in her chair. “Could I please have a piece of toast?” she inquired as she sat, her legs swinging under the seat of the chair.

Sophie nodded and leaned forward to kiss the crown of Katie’s head before brushing past and making her way into the kitchen to drop two pieces into the toaster and set the kettle on the stove.

Once she had Katie set up with two jammed pieces of toast and a mug of hot chocolate, she nodded in the direction of the hall. “I’m going to go make your bed, okay Katie? I’ll be right back. You just holler if you need anything, okay?”

Katie was silent as she munched on her snack, but Sophie saw her nod and felt comfortable enough to leave the girl alone for a few minutes.

She pulled fresh sheets and pillowcases out of the hall closet and stepped into the cream-colored guest room she had. She stripped the bed down and fluffed the pillows, remaking it with fresh, crisp white linen. Over the next few days, she would take Katie shopping for some new things and décor for the room, since it was going to be hers now.

It was sudden, and she did not feel well prepared at all to take on a full-time child, but she was not going to abandon a girl who was essentially her niece to enter the foster system alone and unwanted. She wanted Katie, and though the circumstances were horrid and made her want to strangle Roxanne, Sophie was glad the girl was with her now. She always feared the idea of something happening to Michael and Katie being left with just Roxanne. Not that she thought Roxanne would ever truly seek to physically harm Katie, but she didn’t have to. She just had to not love her, and the damage would be bad enough. When Michael died, Sophie had quietly considered taking Katie for a little while to give Roxanne space to grieve and then get her act together to take care of her daughter, but when she was pushed away, Sophie assumed she might not even get to see Katie again. She and Roxanne had not been on the friendliest of terms for over a decade now.

It would be hard, and Katie wouldn’t understand for a while what had happened and why, but Sophie was glad she’d have the opportunity to give Katie a better future full of love and nurturing. She owed that to Michael at the very least – to take care of his child – and it was hardly a true sacrifice to make.

Once she’d deemed the room ready, Sophie made her way back to Katie’s side. There was nothing but some golden crumbs left on her plate and a little bit of hot chocolate left in the mug. Katie had her head down on the table and was blinking sluggishly at her as Sophie approached.

“Alright Kiddo, let’s get you into bed,” she decided as she lifted Katie up from the table and held her tight. Katie’s fingers curled into her shirt and Sophie tensed when she heard the girl start to sniffle again. “Katie, please don’t cry; it’s okay, I promise,” Sophie assured her.

“Auntie Sophie…can I sleep with you tonight? Please?” Katie begged, her voice cracking as she spoke, while fat tears brimmed in her hazel eyes. The way she asked made it seem like she expected to be refused, and Sophie quickly assumed that she had directed the same desperate request at Roxanne many times over the past few weeks. Losing her father had taken an obvious toll on Katie and it was breaking Sophie’s heart.

Katie was lonely.

She sighed softly - more with relief that it was a request she could easily accommodate than anything - and squeezed Katie close. “Of course, you can,” she murmured.


	3. A Day at Play

“Oof.” Her breath was driven from her as Riley was forced into the sand with a shoulder wedged into her gut. Half wheezing, half laughing, Riley shoved her opponent off of her and wiggled away. A wide grin had split her lips and she stuck her tongue put at her friends. The twins, Corey and Coden, hovered side by side. They looked identical with their messy red-brown hair that drifted around their ears, with stormy eyes and faces full of freckles. Their skin was pale and mottled with brown and grey spots, and tails of red clay glistened dully in the morning light. Each of them had a short, rounded fin, entirely translucent save for the bright red veins that webbed through them in a fanning pattern. The only difference between the two was a short, wide scar down Corey's cheek from splitting his face open on a particularly jagged piece of coral.   
It was Coden that had fallen on her, and she pouted at him. “That was not very kind,” she mocked as she propped closed fists in her hips and stuck her tongue out further. At eleven cycles, they were two years older, but she held her own well enough when they wrestled. They always claimed to let her win, but she felt it was more they did not like that a younger had tied with them in a one on one. In a group tangle, she tended to lose, but she was determined to one day come out victorious in that too.   
Corey tilted his head and pursed his lips. “Aww, what is the matter, Rae? Can you not handle a hit today?”  
Riley’s nose crinkled at the nickname and she shook her head. “Do not call me that, Corey,” she protested.   
But it was the wrong thing to say because a wide grin flowed across his features and his brows dipped in mischievously. “Sorry, Raelyana,” he corrected.   
Riley growled and bared her fangs. She hissed and launched herself at him, barrelling into him and knocking him over down into the rocky sand. He grunted in surprise, but she grabbed hold of a rocky outcropping for balance so he could not throw her off. She pressed her other hand down against his throat and stared at him with hardened eyes and a firm frown. “My name is Riley,” she warned him.   
He thrashed for a moment before sighing in exasperation. “Fine, fine, Riley. Let me up,” he huffed. She relinquished her grip and rose off of him. “I do not know why you are so sensitive about it though.”  
Riley shrugged and brushed it off. She hated her birth name, and had decided she wanted to change it last cycle, but she was having a hard time convincing others to indulge her. Her mother was against the change and more members of her family were inclined to respect her mother's wishes than to acknowledge Riley's own. But it was different with her friends – her cousins and peers – and it meant a lot to her to be who she wanted around them. It was sometimes the only opportunity she got, when she was with them.   
“I just do not like it, okay?” she pressed. Both boys nodded their understanding. They were punks – she was too – but there was a difference between pranking and bullying. She did not imagine they would harass her about it again.  
“Where is Akailen?” Coden asked as he gazed around them. He cupped his hands around his mouth and hollered her name.  
“I am here!” Akailen called back. A heartbeat later she came darting up over the swell of the shelf. Her mother of pearl tail dazzled with a near blinding sheen as it caught the light. Her split fins of bone white flapped wildly through the water. The were oversized, but Akailen was always assured by the adult Mer that she would grow into them. They made her swimming a little clumsy and she always had a hard time stopping if she got going a bit too fast. It made Riley grateful that her own dual fins seemed to grow with her rather than giving her problems.   
Akailen pulled to a stop beside them, but not without bumping into Riley's back so her chin jutted put over Riley's shoulder. “Sorry,” she mumbled.   
“It is alright,” Riley assured her with a smile. Akailen returned the smile and her eyes sparkled. The were a soft green, like shiny pieces of sea glass. Her russet hair was pulled off her face with a tie of twisted kelp roots so that it hung down her spine to her hips. Akailen's hair grew incredibly quickly and her mother was constantly taking a jagged shell to keep it under control. Less than half a moon ago, it has been chopped just below her shoulders.   
Riley’s own blonde hair was at her shoulders, just slightly longer than the brightly colored bangs that framed her cheeks and chin. Her mother had recently forced her to sit and have it cut, even though it had only been down to her chest. Riley still had a sour taste in her mouth about it. It was only hair – it grew back – and she did appreciate that it did not catch or get in her face as much when shorter, but she hated never being given the choice. Her mother had never seemed to understand her, and Riley often felt like a disappointment.   
“What should we play?” Akailen's lilting voice broke Riley of her brooding. She gave herself a shake and refocused on the conversation.  
Corey shrugged. “Track and tag?” he suggested.   
His brother shoved him and shook his head. “Not if Riley's tracking.”  
Riley puffed up her chest. She did not quite understand how the others were not just as good. She only had to taste the water and their trails lingered in her gills, and she could feel the pulses of their heartbeats when she got close enough. The water always buzzed with it, but she could tune it out whenever she wanted. She did not know why they did not tap into it too, but it still made her feel good to excel at the game despite being the youngest in the group.   
“We could race,” Akailen proposed. “To the far side of the reef. I want to try my luck; I have been practicing.”  
Riley grinned. “I would take that challenge.”  
Corey and Coden both nodded, but it was Coden that spoke. “We could test the gorge current after. It is on the far side; our race will take us right there.”  
Akailen seemed to deflate a little. “I thought we were supposed to stay away from there; it is not safe.”  
Corey shook his head and waved away her concerns. “It is fine. The adults only say that because they want the smaller merlings to keep away. We are fine.”  
“It does sound like fun,” Akailen admitted.   
“Then let us go,” Riley agreed eagerly.   
They had all just twisted into racing formation when Riley paused at the sound of her name. When she heard it again, she turned to see who was calling her. “Riley!” the excited squeal belonged to her younger cousin, Kera, who was hurrying towards them and waving her arm in the air. Riley glanced around for her aunt – who rarely left the four-year-old along for long – but she was nowhere in sight. Kera must have slipped away on her own.   
Behind her, all her friends groaned at Kera's approach.   
“Riley, where are you all going? Can I come?” Kera’s stumpy tail was working hard behind her and when she finally got close enough, her wide eyes were full of pleading excitement. “Please?”  
Before she could answer, Riley felt a twinge in her side that made her wince. She glanced away from Kera to find Corey tugging on one of the tiny fins that grew from her hips. They were no bigger than her closed fist and were half expected to fall off as she got older – though Riley desperately hoped not – and very sensitive. She tugged from Corey's grip and frowned at him.   
“Get rid of the baby, Riley. She cannot come with us.”  
“I am not a baby,” Kera protested softly. “I can keep up, I promise. Please, Riley?”  
Riley sighed. She loved Kera, but her friends did not, and she did want to play with them. She glanced back down at Kera's hopeful face. “Kera…you should go back to Aunt Becca before she worries about you. You are too young for this game, but we will play tomorrow okay? I promise.”  
Guilt squeezed at her as she watched Kera's face fall. “You said that yesterday,” Kera muttered softly as her shoulders slumped.   
Riley paused for a moment and thought back. Kera was right and she had made that promise previously. Nodding her head, she made her decision. “You are right,” she agreed. She turned back to her friends and shrugged. “Go on without me; I can catch up later.”  
“Seriously?” Coden rolled his eyes. “Fine, whatever. See you later then.”  
Riley shrugged off their annoyance; they would forgive her. She always kept her promises. When she turned back to Kera, she found the little Mer droopy eyed and slumped in on herself. She was staring at the sand. “Sorry,” she whispered. “I did not mean to make your friends leave. Riley, why do they never want to play?”  
Riley sighed and draped an arm across Kera's shoulders. She pulled her close and rubbed a fist over her head until Kera squealed with laughter and wiggled in her grip. “They just do not know how great you are. One day, you will show them.”  
Kera wrapped her arms snuggly around Riley's waist and nuzzle her. “You are my most very favorite.”  
“Oh? Even better than Nero?” Riley teased. Kera shrugged guiltily, but her smile was wide as she shook her head. Riley laughed. There was no one – save her mother – that Kera loved more than her older brother.   
And Kera was perhaps the only person that Nero genuinely engaged with and spoke to. Not that he was unfriendly or unkind, he was simply shy and quiet and reserved. He preferred to keep to himself and simply watch life rather than engage with it. At least, that was how it seemed to like to Riley; she did not understand how he could prefer that, but she respected it. Most of the time. Not really at all; it was fun to harass him. Riley grinned and gently prodded Kera’s sides, tickling her until she was giggling again. “Where is your brother?” Riley inquired with her tongue poking between her teeth cheekily. “Perhaps we should go find him?”  
Kera’s face lit up and she nodded eagerly. “Yes! Then we can all play!” Kera tugged on Riley’s arm. Riley giggled but followed along as Kera attempted to tow her. In reality, her grip was not very strong and Riley was following under her own power. She loved her little cousin, but Kera was very small and weak. Her Aunt Becca said it was because Kera was born too early and that’s why she was so tiny, but that she would grow in time. Riley had heard her mother whispering about the fact that Kera should have died when she was a baby – not because anyone wanted her to, but because she had been too sickly for anyone to believe she could survive. It was why Aunt Becca always kept Kera close, and the other children would often get in lots of trouble of they were anything but gentle with her. Riley imagined that was where some of their resentment festered from, but she enjoyed Kera's sweet smile and happiness too much to mind playing simpler games she had long outgrown. It made Kera too happy for Riley to refuse.   
They swam over the reef together and it was Kera who veered off first. Riley grinned. Keera could always find her brother, and Riley thought she would make an excellent tracker in the future.   
They found Nero off by himself, coiled loosely around a fat red coral tube. This thick gray tail swishes occasionally through the water and he lifted a hand to bat some of his shaggy ashen hair out of his face, but beyond that, he sat stoic with obsidian eyes that stared off over the reef to gaze at nothing in particular. His browned skin had a tone to it that reminded Riley of smoke. She had seen the great plumes of it that belched from flames only once in her life, when a particularly dry season had lit one of the nearby islands ablaze. It had been fascinating.   
Nero was one of the only Mer Riley knew who had a rough, calloused skin of stretched sfascinlike a shark rather than the smooth plated rows many others tended to have. He was not unique in his tail, but it was a less common sight. Thick red stripes curled over his hips and part of his muscular tail, and two small fins jutted from the front side of the limb, down near the tip. He truly did remind her of a shark.  
“Nero!” Kera called in delight as she scurried across the expanse between them and flopped on his back. Her fingers curled around the dorsal that stretched from his spine and she pressed her cheek against his shoulder.   
The tiny fins at Riley's hips flitted open and closed as she dropped down into the sand beside her cousin and she grinned widely.   
Nero raised one eyebrow as he regarded her. “what do you want, Riley?” he inquired with a sigh. Riley's grin only widened at the sixteen cycle Mer and poked her tongue out between her teeth.  
Kera beat her to an answer, however, as she pushed up to land on Nero's head instead. She rested her chin on the crown of his skull and her fingers slid in his hair until she was half covering his eyes while her tail trailed down his back. “Nero, willy you play with us? Please?” she begged while tugging on his ear.   
Riley nodded. “Yes, Nero, play a game with us,” she taunted as she slumped bodily against him. A flick of his arm shoved her off. He was silent for a moment as he reached up and dragged Kera off his back and over his head. She squeaked in surprise as he effortlessly pinned her to the sand and began to tickle her sides.   
Kera's laughter became shrill as she twisted and squirmed to get away from him. “Nero, no! No tickles! Noooo,” she howled as her tiny gill slits flared and flapped frantically. She pushed at his hands until he let her go and she shot put from the reach of his grasp. A second later she was back and hanging off him again. “Please, big brother? One game?”  
Nero rolled his eyes, but the faintest hint of a smirk – the closest thing to a smile one could get from him – twitched at the corners of his mouth. “Alright,” he caved. “One game of seek out.”   
Kera cheered and threw herself down into the sand while watching him expectantly.   
“Seek out a curly shell,” he instructed. Kera twisted around, stirring up particles as she dashed off with a wide smile. Riley sat back a moment. Seek out was hardly ever and advanced game and there were hundreds of curly shells scattered within eyesight along the reef. She would rather give Kera a head start and allow her to win.   
Then she found her face pressed into the sand as Nero's tail connected with her back and bowled her over. “Why are you still sitting there?” he crouched.   
Riley did not respond and instead hastily swam off in pursuit of her younger cousin and a shell. 


	4. Lost

Her chest heaved, lungs expanding desperately, but she only sucked in thin, dry air that hung in her lungs and made her cough. Sweat dripped down her brow and tears pooled in the corners of her eyes.

“Again,” the voice of one of the scientists came – cold and clinical – like a knife straight to her heart. There was a sharp buzzing noise and then her back arched, her convulsions subdued by the thick restraints biting into her flesh as the tiny wires they had stuck to her boy sparked to life and sent painful currents shooting through her muscles.

She gritted her teeth and slumped back on the frigid metal gurney as it finally stopped. Her fingers twitched with lingering energy and she gasped for air again. She longed for the water, to submerge where it would flow over her gills and soothe the dry ache in her chest.

“Again.”

She was beginning to hate that word as more volts were pumped through her flesh. Her lips parted in a silent cry and her tears finally began to flow. Though there was no scream to mark her agony, her convulsions grew more violent until pain roared in her limbs. She had been silent now for a while – though she could not recall why or how she had lost her voice – and since it fled her, the scientists and their experiments had grown more brutal. It seemed as though that was because they no longer had too bother with the noise of her cries, but deep down she knew the real reason. The man – the one who took so much pleasure in her pain – had always seemed to delight at the sound of her scream. Some days it felt he was forever trying to rip it back out of her. She wished he would realize that it had well and truly abandoned her.

The shocks kept coming, until she was panting heavily and her vision was blurred, and she was convinced she could take no more. Then Dr. Patron stepped forward. He was always present, and her heart rate accelerated as he approached. She had never felt such fear or hatred towards another living being before, but the surplus of negative emotions that swelled in her heart towards him was enough to choke her.

He grinned widely as he stared down at her, trapped and pinned as she was, and reached out a hand. She cringed as his fingers approached, but his tough was tender as he stroked her cheek and tugged a long lock of hair behind her ear. His malicious grin only grew as his lips moved. “Again.”

The Mer winced as her scales clacked sharply against the tiled floor and the force of impact jarred her bones. The door squealed noisily on its hinges behind her before slamming shut. She was left alone with only the sound of retreating footsteps. Her arm shook as she lifted her hand to wipe a little drool from the side of her mouth. This was the third time now that they had taken her and done that procedure. She never understood why, though they talked about things like heart rate and muscle contraction and electronic pulse readings, though she knew none of what it meant. Just that it hurt.

When her body stopped shaking, she pushed herself upright to gaze at her new settings. She was in a room with small, smooth blue tiles on the floor and concrete walls. It was a small room, and halfway through the floor dropped away into a shallow pool. She had been left here before, though she did not know why they liked to put her in here when her tiny tank was more portable. They often kept her in the small tank with wheels to move her around. There was no room in the tank and she had to remain bowed and curled, and her tail often cramped terribly. She would often spend the time tilting her head and twitching her wrists to keep the few things she could move from cramping as well. This pool was not much of a size improvement, but at least it allowed her to remain stretched out rather than curled in a tight ball.

She would have to drag herself over to the water, though, and she did not have the energy yet. Time no longer had any meaning to her. She did not know how long it had been since she had seen the outside world, and she could barely even picture what it looked like. She remembered so little now. She had grown, so a few cycles had to have passed at least. It felt like an eternity since her voice had abandoned her, and now she had only tiny fragments of memory to cling to.

Her azure gaze widened as a thought occurred to her. For as long as she could remember now, she had whispered, and later mouthed her name to herself every time they left her alone. No one knew it here, no one called her by anything, and as she started to forget, she began repeating it so she would always know who she was. But she had been so exhausted and sore the last couple times, she had forgotten to do it. Now, when she parted her lips, nothing came. Her heart pounded in her chest and she wracked her brain, but the familiar sound and shape of the name was gone. She floundered for a moment, and then her vision blurred as tears brimmed behind her lids. There was nothing. The last shred of identity that she had nurtured and protected so dearly was gone.

Other names flashed in her mind. _Creature. Thing. Monster. Demon. Devilfish._ She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block out the horrible, echoing terms that echoed in her head. These were the names they had given her, the terms they used to describe her. The scientist that hurt her most liked that last one a lot. She had always countered with her real name in her mind, but now she had nothing to combat the terrible oppression of her new life.

Her head bowed and her chest heaved. It was terrifying and crushing, to be without a name. She felt herself floundering in a sense of loss and confusion. She no longer knew who she was. Any hopes or dreams she had once harbored were gone. She did not know what brought her joy or what she liked to do. The only things that lingered were a desperation for escape and a relief whenever she was left alone. Solitude meant less pain.

The Mer raised her head and stared at the dark, unblinking eye of the wall-box that watched her. They always watched her in this room, though it had taken her a while to figure it out. Chewing on her lip, she twisted and dragged herself across the floor and slipped into the cold water in the tank. It was chilly and tasted stale, but she dunked below so that they could not see her begin to cry.

**There we go. Last chapter was ALL fluff. I can't have you lot thinking I'm going soft now can I? Actually, it was just more to introduce the time between Kera and Luna. One identity died in that facility and another was born, but there was a long stretch in between. I'll say it again though, I do take requests for these things, so if there's specific moments in Cry of the Mer that are just mentioned and you want to actually see, or scenes from other points of view, or just concepts from the backgrounds of characters you want explored, leave me a comment and I'll do my best to accomodate everyone's desires.**


	5. Extraction

The water in the tank sloshed as it jerked to a sudden stop and the Mer within had to brace her hands on the glass to avoid being heavily jostled. She hated being moved around like this, but supposed it was better than being hauled around by the tail. They had done that a lot when she had been small, until she grew enough they risked damaging it too much. Not that it had ever been meant to support her weight above the water. She gazed around the room she had been brought to and her heart squeezed with anxiety.   
There was a tall table with thick restraints hanging from it. They swayed slightly, the gleaming buckles glinting as they were struck by the harsh overhead lights. Above the table was a box shaped device, white with a black stripe running across the side. Various beams and hoses and wires were strung from it and the Mer shied away as much as her small tank would allow. She knew this room and this device, and she hated it.   
She flinched when the door opened and a pair of black boots and dark pants filled her view. She craned her head to see a man staring down at her. This was not the man who usually came – not the one who loved to hurt her – but the other one, who always studied her and watched her just a little too long with a different expression. His was curiosity, like she was a puzzle to be solved. It made her uncomfortable. Perhaps what was worst about him was that she did not know what to expect.   
Over time, she had come to learn the patterns of the bad-man. He hurt her – they all did – but he took immense pleasure in it. Almost seemed proud or gloating about the accomplishment. She feared him above all else. But he liked to punish her more than he simply enjoyed causing her pain. If she lay limp and meek and gave in to the inner sanctum of her mind, he got angry. It was always worse when he was angry. He would rip into her mercilessly and drag her from mental sanctuary until she was shivering and sobbing and unable to move.   
It only happened twice before she learned to fuss – never too much – but to hiss and thrash and give his interns a hard time. She would get in trouble then, be punished, but it was always more bearable than when he was angry.  
But this other man, this one was different, and she never felt well after his experiments. She hated them the most. She peered at him warily as he pulled on a pair of metal link gloves. He always used them when he dealt with her. She growled when he pulled the lid off and curled into a tight ball. There was not much room, but when he reached his hands in, she whipped her tail out and connected with the side of his arm. He had already been pulling back, so she did not do much damage, but he still shook his hand and muttered a word that she did not understand. It was spoken with venom, however, and he glared at her. On instinct she shrunk back.   
He stepped back out of the room and returned shortly after with another person. A bit of a heavier set girl with short blonde hair around her chin and a face full of freckles. The Mer recognized her as one of the younger workers who cleaned the floors and equipment at night. She must have been the first person he found.   
The Mer blared her fangs again, her heart racing. She did not fuss with this man, she genuinely resisted his machine that made her feel so pained and poorly for a long time, on top of everything she had to endure usually. He had given up before and she held the hope he would do it again.   
Not this time, however. His helper pulled on a pair of the same gloves and they both advanced on her. There was not enough room in her tiny tank to avoid them both. She hissed again, but then the girl was grabbing her tail. She winced ad the hands pinch the sides of her fin against the metal links. She could not turn to strike, and the man had her around the waist in a heartbeat. His other arm looped under her chin, causing her to gag slightly as they hauled her up out of the tank.  
She had a bit more energy at the moment and it had awoken her often dormant fight response. The Mer bucked in their grasp, contorting her body until the girl lost her grip on her slippery scales and they were forced to drop her. She winced at the sharp noise produced as she struck the ground, but she quickly straightened herself out and pushed herself away from their feet.  
The man lunged for her and she snapped at his outstretched hands. He jerked back and grumbled more to himself than to her. “So you’re going to be difficult today, then?”  
The Mer merely hissed at him in response.   
He ran a hand over his balding head, then shrugged. He made a gesture to the girl that the Mer did not understand. She frowned and her hesitation cost her as the older girl's weight dropped down onto her at the butt of her tail. The Mer hissed and thrashed as she attempted to buck the girl off. She turned with her fangs bared and the man was waiting for her. She had her mouth open in a snarl and he jammed a thick rubber wrapped bar into her mouth. It caught behind her fangs and she reared in surprise. Hands pushed her down while more dragged at her face as they tied the bar into her mouth.   
The Mer hissed again, but she knew it was pointless. Now that she could not bite, they were no longer worried about her. She fell limp as they picked her up again, the fight draining from her as they held her tightly. Any further resistance was pointless and would land her in trouble.   
They flopped her down on the table and her head was guided into a plush framed hole. She felt hands squeezing at her tail as it was dragged straight out until her bones felt stretched, and then was locked into place. A strap was pulled tight across the base of her skull and another over the ridge of her tail where the scales melted away into her skin. She chewed her lip, fear fluttering her heart in her chest, but she did not move.   
“Good girl,” the man praised, giving her a pat on the head. She gritted her teeth and lay there, effectively unable to do anything else. Her eyes closed as she heard the machine start up. The high pitched whine hurt her ears, but it quickly faded away and was replaced with a loud buzzing.   
The Mer was shaking by the time the overhead box portion had lowered and pressed against her back. The bottom was coated in a straight line of tubes that aligned perfectly down her back to sit in the spaces between each of the ridges of her spin.   
Tears dropped down her cheeks, the air whistling in her nostrils as she inhaled. A second later, the pain came as the machine made a sharp beeping noise and then hissed. Multiple needles pierced down the length of her spine and her body went ridged. The pressure continued to increase and the Mer's lips parted in a silent scream. As it went on, she began to feel ill, dizzy and weak.   
After what felt like an eternal stretch, there was a clicking noise that jarred her back and poured white hot agony behind her eyelids, and then it released and the needles pulled free.   
When the straps were removed and she was lifted off the table, her head lolled and she reached- though there was nothing in her gut to purge. Exhaustion rolled over her in waves and her body was shaking. She was lowered to the floor and she tried to brace herself on an arm, but it quivered and then buckled and she collapsed. Her chest was heaving and she felt as though someone had reached inside and torn her insides out.   
The man crouched down in front of her and hauled her up, looping an arm around her chest to hold her dangled in the air with her tail trailing on the floor. The bar was tugged from her mouth, but she did not have the strength for that to mean anything. She saw a flash of pink and then a rubbery bulb was pressed to her lips. The man pushed it into her mouth and then an overly sweet fluid flowed over her tongue. It was not very good, but she was starved and weak, so she gulped at it as best she could.   
“There,” the man muttered. “That wasn’t so bad.”  
He lifted her and dumped her back in the water. She curled her tail and sunk to the floor of the tank, still breathing heavily. “Lexi, take her back now please. Make sure she’s marked off-limits. I took a lot and she needs to recuperate. We’ll be moving her next week. Go in and give her another one of these every hour until she starts to give you a hard time, then you can stop. It’ll be a while before she’s up and moving again, and I want to make sure her counts are kept up.”  
The Mer was exhausted and barely registered the words, but one thing stuck in her mind as the assistant began to wheel her back out. Move me where? What else new could they possibly find to do to me? She had been moved around before, and it was always terrible. She did not want to know the answer of what was planned for her next.   
Slumping against the glass bottom, her eyes dropped shut.


	6. Companionship

The young Mer was used to blacking out. She was familiar with opening her eyes and finding herself in new places – often with new pains and aches – after the scientists had poked her with a needle. It was a frequent occurrence, and it often left her with a massive headache or sense of dizziness.

This time, as she pushed herself up from the glass floor she had previously been sprawled against, she found herself in a large tank. A frown pulled at her lips as she gazed around. She had come to learn that her captors never did anything – especially anything good or kind – without a reason. There was usually a catch to things that could be viewed as ‘gifts’ and this was far more space than she ever tended to receive. Her fin flicked with anxiety as she studied her surroundings for a hint at what was to come. The tank was taller than it was wide, with a series of vertical steps along one side that led to a platform that stretched partway over the surface of the water. There was no lid, and she could surface if she wished – though she did not – which was also strange. They normally did not like to allow her the chance to leave the water unless they were supervising and dragging her from it to cart her off somewhere.

There seemed to be another tank beside hers, and the platform stretched over both, but it did not look like she could access it without leaping over the barrier. She scowled as she stared up at it. She was sure that she was capable of making such a jump – it was not very high – but it had been so long since she had this much space and she was not sure she knew how to perform that feat.

With a shake of her head, she gazed beyond the clear barriers of her confines. The room was large and mostly gray, with all sorts of equipment she did not know or understand. She doubted she would have liked any of it, however, so she did not care to know what any of it did. She appeared to be alone, though she also had the sinking suspicion in her gut that something was going to happen. If she held her breath and listened very hard, she could hear past the noisy burbling of the tank’s filter out into the tunnels that lay behind this particular room. There were lots of people making lots of noise as they tromped quickly through the halls. They only rushed when they were working on something big. Their excitement was usually her dread, and it made her want to curl into a tiny ball even though she knew that with no cover she had no way to hide.

She remained where she was for a long while, her fin tapping up and down against the floor as a way to release some of the nervous energy building in her. Gradually, the outside sounds faded away, and she was truly left alone. Chewing her lip, she cautiously pushed up off the floor and swam a few laps around the tank at a midway depth. Despite whatever consequence may befall her later, it felt so good to have the space to stretch out her cramped, kinked muscles. She was not even sure how she could still swim with how much time she would spend in a too-small tank with hardly enough room to stretch her tail out to its full length. Though she never had any real concept of time, she would lay with her hip dug into the glass until fire burned the length of her body and she would desperately shuffle or roll to the other side in an attempt to stave off the worst of the motionless locking of her muscles.

The Mer rolled from her front to her back and twisted her body to its limits until it hurt, and then sighed with relief as the knots deep inside finally began to loosen. For longer than she cared to remember, it had been like an itch she could not reach to scratch, paining her and making discomfort her constant companion. Discomfort and fear were her unwanted friends, but the only ones she had. She hated them, but she supposed it was better than feeling nothing at all.

She swam a few more circles, and then slowly drifted back down to the floor with flaring gills as she panted. It was so hard to move now, to waste any energy at all when she had so little to give anymore. They used to feed her properly – at least she assumed else she probably would have perished instead of growing – but for the last long while, she was more familiar with constant fatigue and roiling hunger – more friends she did not want – than she knew was healthy. If she ran her fingers down her sides, she could feel each rib straining against her flesh as her skin grew too taut to hold them in properly. It was the same with her hips, and the rounded bones in her elbows and wrists.

She sighed and gritted her teeth together until they creaked within her skull. She just wanted to swim, to finally have the chance, but no matter her desires, her body lacked the strength for even simple tasks. She huffed silently and a stream of bubbles jetted from her lips to flutter to the surface. Resigned to her situation, she pulled her tail up closer for warmth and laid her cheek on one arm. If she was still alone after a short nap, perhaps she would have the energy to exercise more.

***

A loud bang echoed through the water and the Mer’s head shot up as she was startled from a fitful slumber. She curled her tail even closer and pulled herself down into a ball. She knew she was safest on the floor – where it would be more of a hassle to reach her at this depth – but as the noises grew louder, her anxiety spurred her to move, to flee even though she had nowhere to go, and she shoved away from the glass bottom and back to the wall furthest from the door. She sucked in water and hovered there with her back pressed against the barrier as she stared with her pounding heart drumming in her ears. She shook her head in attempt to clear the internal throb that was muffling the sounds she wanted to track.

When the doors finally opened, the Mer bit her lip hard enough that the sharp, bitter tang of her own blood coated her tongue and a small pink-red wisp flowed up in front of her gaze. She shuddered and watched as a group of workers filtered into the room followed by two scientists pushing a gurney. It did not look empty, but she could not get a good enough look with all the bodies in the way. Her heart stalled at the faces of the men in the long white coats. _Dr. Patron._ The name rung in her head, though she had never spoken it – or anything, really. Not in a very long time – but it was easy to recognize the man that haunted her dreams. She hated most that her pain seemed to be a game for him, one that he forced her to play lest she face further, even more unpleasant consequences. She despised the game, and its rules. There was no way to escape the pain, but she had to swim a careful line between giving him a reason to punish her so he could play and taking things too far so that he grew truly enraged.

For so long she had wanted to simply curl up, retreat inside her head, and forget the world around her. She had tried before, to succumb to the ever-present feeling of numbness that lurked in the edges of her mind. But whenever she fell limp that way, he found some new, horrible way to drag her back to reality in ways that would leave her shaking and crippled for several sleeps. She found no enjoyment or satisfaction in mock lunging or showing aggression to him or his interns, knew it would get her nowhere, but she had to play the game. He made sure she played, always.

Though admittedly, he had been around a little less lately. She would have loved the reprieve if it were not for the scientist beside him now. The one that watched her differently. He played no games and most often ignored her, except when he wanted something. She shuddered and her back flared up at the reminder of last time. Not much time had passed since he last hauled her off to the machine. The loud one with so many needles that stabbed her spine and made her feel weak and drained and so sore for so long. She was not sure which of them was worse to have come for her.

Right now, they did not spare her so much as a glance and she drifted back down to the ground to coil into a tiny ball as they turned away from the tank and began fussing with a strange sling of fabric that a crane had lowered for them. She hoped if she stayed small and still, their attention would not be drawn to her.

They were putting something in the sling. The Mer studied them carefully. There was a bright flash of purple that dotted the walls in little glittering lights. It was the same way her tail did when it caught the light. The Mer frowned and despite her fears, uncurled enough to lean closer. She could not have seen what she thought, surely? It was some sort of trick. It had been far too long. She was alone. Always alone. In some ways, it was better that way even though it cracked the heart she fought so hard to preserve.

A loud cranking noise reverberated in her ears as the crane’s cable began to retract, pulling the sling up with it. There had been no fuss with loading it, and the Mer began to wonder if whatever was inside was deceased. But then it wiggled and the sling jerked about as it was swung up over the top of the other tank and hung in place.

There was a sharp clicking sound and then one side of the sling fell open and allowed the occupant to plummet with a call of surprise.

The Mer watched with wide eyes as the figure hit the water with a splash and promptly sunk like a stone. It was another Mer. She looked older – though not by much – and certainly bigger and stronger and healthier, and the young Mer shied back at the implications. She knew nothing now of her people or how to behave. Would this one grow angry with her presence? Was this a trick to toy with her hope, only to tear it away as she was beaten into submission by one of her own? It would not surprise her if the scientists played that game with her.

The other Mer had a long, slender tail that glittered with vibrant violet shades, and her fin was wider and flatter than the young Mer’s own. Her hair was just as long, and surrounding her in a massive, dark brown plume, while dark dots splattered over the tanned skin of her face. The comparison to the young Mer’s own pale, veiny skin was striking. There was something off about this other girl though. Her eyes were wide with fright and she was flailing her arms through the water with her cheeks puffed up. Her fin waved side to side, but she did not go anywhere. Did she not know how to swim?

That was a strange notion to the young Mer, given she was older and her healthy appearance seemed to indicate she was recently caught, though she showed none of the aggression towards the humans that she would have expected from one of her kind.

The scientists were talking, and the young Mer focused for a moment on them to catch part of their conversation. There was a woman with them, and she was speaking.

“I really think we should get Ka-Bailey out of there; she doesn’t look so good.”

The young Mer’s gaze whipped back to the struggling Mer and a sharp thorn of jealousy jabbed her in the gut. Why did this one get a name when all she had known for as long as she could remember back were cruel jabs?

_Beast. Animal. Monster. Devilfish. Thing._ The young Mer curled her fingers into fists so that her nails dug into her palms. The prickles of pain helped stem the flow of taunts that jeered in her head. She had been without an identity for longer than she knew, and it weighed heavily on her.

Her jealousy faded away as she continued to gaze at the other Mer. There really was something wrong with this girl, but her eyes were bloodshot and she was growing pale, and her struggling was weakening. She was drowning. Her gills were closed.

Though the young Mer had never experienced the instinctive response to being underwater failing her, she knew it was happening to this other. She could not breathe water while there was air in her lungs.

Without truly considering what she was doing or the consequences of her actions, the younger Mer knew she had to do _something_ , so she shoved off the floor once more and raced for the surface. Had there been time to process it, the jump may have felt exhilarating, and so different from anything she had been allowed to do in the past.

She could hear the woman screeching as she plunged back down into the opposite tank and dove for the bottom. The other Mer looked rather limp now and there was not much time. The girl struggled weakly as the young Mer wrapped her arms around her belly from behind and began to squeeze. The Mer wheezed and bubbles floated from her lips, but she still had not opened her gills. What was wrong? Why was she not breathing and swimming the way she should? Had the scientists done something to her? The younger Mer did not understand and she was not sure how to help. She brought her hands up to cup the other Mer’s neck, her nails grazing behind her ears where her gills should be.

After a moment they finally, finally opened and the young Mer clapped a hand over the other Mer’s mouth. She knew if the girl gasped for a breath now, she would swallow the water wrong and choke. She waited a moment until the Mer squirmed and then carefully parted her fingers. She pulled away entirely when bubbles streamed from the other Mer’s gills and she finally seemed to be breathing on her own.

Now that the crisis had passed, horror flooded up in the young Mer and she darted away, mentally cursing her own stupidity. She had gotten too close, she had grabbed, she had _jumped._ There was so much she had done that she should not have, never would have, and considered wrong. The scientists would get mad, she knew they would. This Mer could have attacked, and still might, and despite there being something off with her, the young Mer knew that she possessed neither the strength or ability to handle herself in a fight. She would only face more pain.

She wanted to leap back into her own confines and hope the other Mer would not feel inclined to follow, but the first jump and the burst of adrenaline had drained her of her energy reserves once more, and she wound up simply sinking to the floor of the current tank and panting. Fear wracked her body and aided the fatigued shivers causing her to quake.

When she glanced back to see if she would be pursued, she found the older Mer still struggling to leave the floor and swim. She was moving her tail wrong. It looked painful, the bizarre jerk of her limb as though she did not even know how it was meant to move.

The younger Mer hesitated as she caught her breath and then slowly returned to the other Mer’s side. The Mer was staring at her with the same glossy fear that the young Mer felt, and it helped relax her a little. At least it did not seem like the older wanted to attack. Still, she kept her motions slow and studied the other for any clues in her body language that she was displeased.

The purple Mer’s scales were smooth and cool in the younger’s hands as she carefully grabbed hold at the base of her fin. She slowly bent it back and forth in hopes of reminding the other Mer to swim. It was probably stupid of her. The scientists were watching, and she hated to give them something new to look at; that often meant they would get curious and they would hurt her more. And teaching this newcomer to swim only made her more mobile so she _could_ attack if she wanted. But the young Mer knew how it felt to feel trapped and helpless, and knew it had to be so much worse if one could not swim properly.

As she worked the fin, the purple’s eyes filled with understanding and her fin began to move on its own, so the younger let go. She reached higher up and touched the Mer’s tail in another place, and kicked her own to make a point. She took the older Mer’s hand and pulled her forward, and then the girl began to swim finally. It was slowly and awkwardly, but at least she was moving. Despite her reservations and her exhaustion, the younger Mer kept pace with her and used the tips of her own fin to keep the other’s from spasming in random directions.

Gradually, the other Mer picked up more speed and was changing directions on her own, and the younger fell behind. Her gills were flaring with exertion and her hands were beginning to shake, her vision growing blurry. She had moved too much.

As she stopped, the other Mer drifted closer. Her arms were spread wide and while it was possible that she only meant to hug her, terror flooded her veins and she found a small scrap of remaining energy to dart for the surface.

Once back in the tank she had originally been in, the young Mer glanced back and saw that the older did not seem to be inclined to follow her. With a sigh of relief that made her heart ache, the young Mer collapsed on the floor of her tank with a heaving chest. She did not want to sleep now, not when she felt so vulnerable, but her heavy eyes gave her no choice as they slid shut and everything else faded away.

***

The young Mer rarely slept deeply enough that sound would not rouse her, but it was also not often that she overworked herself that much. So it was not the sound of people talking or entering the room that woke her, but rather the smell. There was the strong scent of food permeating the water, and it made her belly rumble noisily. The young Mer winced and clutched at the shriveled flesh of her middle. She opened her eyes and sat back up off the ground where she had sprawled. Her neck was cricked from such an awkward sleeping position.

She glanced up towards the platform at the top of the tanks. The other Mer was there, with her head above the surface, and the young Mer recognized the scent of the other woman, as well as her voice. Was she talking to the Mer? Why?

Whether or not they were talking, the woman was feeding the purple Mer, and the young one fought to keep her jealousy at bay. It was not fair that the healthier one was being favored, but it was also not her fault and she deserved whatever comforts she could gleam because they were few and far between in this place.

The young Mer parted her lips to scent better and found the scientist – the one who toyed with her – up with the woman. She shrank away in horror. The two were talking, asking about being done with something. Then there was a splash and two fish skeletons began sinking into her side of the tank. The woman was exclaiming about that being all she was being fed but – as ashamed as she felt – at least it was something and the young Mer fell on both ravenously. There was still tailfins and heads, and while it was hard, thin meat that would not be very filling, she tore at it because she would starve if she did not. Her tongue stung as sharp shards sliced at is as she cracked the bones to lick for any marrow she could get at, and her belly gurgled with a need that drove her to a frenzy.

She did not hear what else was said, or see either human retreat, but when she looked up, the two Mer were alone once more. She could see the other looking at her, and then there was another splash and something else dropped into her tank. It was another fish, but this one was untouched.

The young Mer was staring at it with disbelief. The other Mer had thrown it, had surrendered her meal – or at least part of it – and the young one could not understand why. She glanced over, but the older was no longer looking at her, but instead curling up at the bottom of her tank. She hesitated once more, but her hunger drove her to take the fish and continue eating.

The flesh was juicy and salty, and for once when she bit, she had a mouthful. She only made it halfway through the savory piece before she began to feel full. Her shrivelled stomach did not fully know what to do with a proper meal, but she forced herself to finish it off regardless. She never knew when she would next get to eat, and would never waste food.

When all that was left was a handful of cracked open bones, the younger Mer swam up and tossed the scraps up onto the platform. Only a few instincts had lingered with her from before this place, but something drove her to discard the remnants. Never eat and sleep in the same place lest it attract predators. Not that those who hunted her were spurred by food or warded away by barrenness or warning displays.

Now that her hunger was sated fully for the first time in ages, the young Mer only wanted to rest and hope that when she woke, she might feel better than she had in a long time. She shivered as she lay down. The water had begun to grow very cold, and her frail form had no fat to keep her warm. She huddled into the closest corner of the tank to pen in as much of her body heat as she could.

Sleep evaded her no matter how she tried as she lay there. Her shaking had grown worse and her fin and fingers were numb from the cold. Her gills worked slowly and each breath hurt. She was in a limp state between sleep and wakefulness, but every time she started to drift, horrors lurked behind her lids to torment her awake again. She did not know how long it went on, but she did not feel the water shift, did not know the other was there until warm hands brushed over her shoulder.

If the silent young Mer could have yelped, she would have as she jerked up and rolled to look behind her. The purple Mer was settling down beside her, and there was a soft smile on her lips and understanding in her eyes. The young Mer’s heart stalled in her chest, first with fear, then disbelief and hope. The other Mer was so warm in the cold and she had come over to freeze. Why? The young Mer desperately hoped it was because they were equally starved for affection. She so desperately wanted a friend. An actual living, breathing companion rather than the haunting emotions that lingered with her normally.

For the first time in a long, long time, a warm emotion sparked in her chest that she did not understand at first, and a smile pulled on her lips. She was happy. She did not remember when she had last been happy. Had not known she could still feel such a pleasant emotion. Taking a leap of faith, she laid back down and snuggled into the other Mer, craving her warmth.

It did not matter if it upset the purple or if she attacked, it would be worth it if the younger could just have this one moment of perceived affection. She needed it, had needed it for so long she had not even recognized the need for what it was.

The purple Mer did not attack, and instead shifted closer and wrapped the younger in an embrace. She bit her lip so she would not sob and shatter the moment, and finally, finally, sleep came for her. A slumber not spurred by exhaustion and not riddled with terror, but rather a deep, dreamless sleep brought on by security. She wondered if there had ever been a time she had felt safe, but she did not care. She felt it now, and that was all that mattered as her conscious mind flickered out.


	7. Big Brother

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This short was done as part of a content trade with a member of my discord, which you can join if you're interested: https://discord.gg/Ny2hjct
> 
> Enjoy!

Nero flipped his tail and darted out over the reef. He was swimming low enough to the ground that he could trail his fingers through the sand, and every lash of his fin stirred up more silt. He was pacing, and he knew he should not be doing so over the sandy stretch where his pod tended to sleep. It was never fun to get grains of sand lodged in one’s gills, so purposefully stirring the water was frowned upon, but he could not slow the instinctive motion agitation was spurring him into.

He knew he should leave, find a quieter place on the other side of the reef where he was less likely to disturb anyone. The last thing he wanted right now was to endure a scolding lecture or a feelings talk. He twisted and began to swim in the opposite direction without paying much attention to where he was going.

His parents had been distant lately. It was not so much that he was cross or lonely or feeling neglected. Quite the opposite most of the time. At twelve years old, he was caught in between the ages where he was treated as a helpless youth or respected as a competent adolescent. He had been going with the hunting parties for the better part of two seasons, and they were finally allowing him to properly join in. Next hunt was meant to be his to lead, but he had passed on the opportunity to go on the last one.

Nero was startled from his thoughts by a sharp tug on his dorsal. It jerked him to a stop, and he growled. He hated when people grabbed it. It had grown from his back last cycle and was still incredibly tender. His mother told him it would firm up more as he grew and bother him less, but for now he was very sensitive about having it prodded.

“Stop that unruly noise, Nero,” his Aunt Iliene’s command was laced with stern disapproval.

He glanced up at her and rolled his shoulders in an attempt to dislodge her hand. “That hurts, Aunt Iliene,” he protested.

“It should,” she scoffed in response. Her pale pink fins smacked against his tail as she lashed them. “Perhaps then you would learn to listen. You know you are not allowed to stray from the reef, where did you think you were going?” she scolded. Her piercing dark blue eyes were full of disappointment and it made Nero bristle.

He shook his head and gazed out beyond her. He was nearly at the edge of the shelf. “I-I did not realize,” he admitted.

For a moment, his aunt’s features remained stern. Her short blonde hair was waving around her face and she took a moment to tuck it back off her face. Then her features softened slightly. She released her grip on his fin and smoothed his hair back. “Nero, I know the last quarter moon has not been easy for you; it has been frightening for all of us, but you cannot simply pace around stirring up the silt and wandering around lost in your head.”

Nero’s tail lashed and he hissed in frustration. None of them understood.

His aunt clucked her tongue and grabbed his shoulder firmly. She pulled until Nero lost his balance and plopped down into the sand. He was about to protest before she sunk down beside him.

Nero reluctantly curled his tail. He did not want to endure a feelings talk like the one he knew was coming, but he also had no real excuse to leave and doubted Aunt Iliene would allow him to regardless. He did not like talking about his emotions. He barely understood them himself without fumbling trying to explain them to someone else who inevitably would not understand. Nero preferred being by himself. He did not speak often or much, company made him uncomfortable, and conversation was more exhausting than hefting rocks all day.

“Have you talked much with your mother and father?” Aunt Iliene inquired.

Nero shook his tail and pulled his tail up close to his torso. He had not wished to disturb them anymore than necessary. He had been so excited at first, when they had told him. They were having a baby, and he was going to be a big brother. He was never very good with others, but his mother and father had seemed so overjoyed and so certain that he was going to be good at being a big brother that he had wanted to try. But things had gone wrong so quickly. His mother’s maternity fins had grown slowly and stunted, and she had fallen ill even as her belly rounded. As time stretched on and his mother got sicker and sicker, Nero had been convinced that she was going to die.

He had begun to loathe the creature growing inside of her. He was not sure how it could possibly be a baby if it was so cruel as to take his mother from him. While his father had fretted over her, Nero had grown to loathe the feelings festering inside of him. He despised how frightened and helpless he felt, that there was nothing he could do to help her. All the negativity had rotted into a hatred for the baby. It was not a fair trade.

Everything had gotten so much worse when it was born. Two moons too early. His mother had been in so much pain. He had swum to the edge of the reef to escape it and still it had haunted his ears. He had never understood how this could happen to a healer. His mother always seemed to know everything, from drawing the poisons from a red stripe fish sting, or soothing the burns of a jellyfish tentacle. He had believed there was nothing she could not fix, so why could she not protect herself from a parasitic pregnancy?

The water had tasted of blood around her afterwards, and despite all the complications, she was still fighting to keep the infant Mer alive. He had heard the whispers around their pod that the baby was born too small and far too early, and that there was no way for it to survive, and that Rebecca was only needlessly exhausting herself. Nero hated the baby for causing so much strife for his family, and was furious with his mother for risking herself further in an effort to save it.

They have been distant, his mother preoccupied with the baby and her own exhaustion as she continued to weaken, and his father consumed with protecting her and caring for her in all the ways that he could. Nero was far from unwelcome, but he was angry and he worried he would voice his emotions and make things worse.

“You should go to them,” his aunt advised. “Your mother and father love you, and I am sure your presence would be appreciated. Why are you avoiding them?”

Nero shrugged. He did not wish to tell her the truth. “Is she going to die?” he asked. He choked on the words as he said them. It was the first time he had voiced the possibility. He glanced up into his aunt’s dark gaze.

Her expression softened further and she draped a hand over his shoulders to pull him closer. He squirmed slightly, having not expected nor truly desired to be held close. He pulled away from her magenta scales and she did not stop him. “My sister…your mother is very weak right now, Nero. The pregnancy took everything she had, and it is still taxing her to hold on as she is, but she is grieving.”

“The baby is going to die?” he pressed.

Aunt Iliene sighed. “It is in poor taste and spirit to discuss such morbid things, but yes. It was born too early, and too small. The heartbeat is weak and grows ever weaker. The baby will not live long; it has not even the strength to feed.”

“But then why?” Nero hissed. He shook his head and wrapped his arms around his torso. “Why is she still fighting so hard for it? She only grows sicker.”

His aunt pulled him close again and lifted his chin to force him to hold her gaze. “Your mother is grieving, Nero,” she reminded. “It is a terrible thing to lose one you love so dearly. Your mother has always wanted to be just that. She would sacrifice anything for you, you know. She has to let go and allow the infant to die, yes, but she is not ready to give up. She will, in time, or nature will make the choice for her. Rebecca is stubborn, Nero, and desperate to save an innocent life, but she is rational at heart. She will accept the inevitable, and your father will ensure she does not push herself too far. But in the meantime, it would do her good to have you close. You are her son, and she loves you very much. You should go to her.”

Nero looked away. He was not sure how to feel about this heart to heart. It was the last interaction he had been anticipating from his aunt. Aunt Iliene had been bitter and distant for many years. He had not seen the soft side of her personality since he was a very young child. She used to be warm and outgoing and fun, and he had enjoyed her presence. Everything had changed after her daughter was born. She had grown strict and hostile, and cared more for what she considered proper than she did for the wellbeing and happiness of those around her; especially any young Mer and her daughter in particular. It was refreshing see some of her former nature resurfacing, even if he was still awkward with the conversation.

“I do not want to get in the way,” he admitted.

“You will not,” Aunt Iliene assured him. “Your parents will be relieved to have you close, and it is better than sulking about the reef disrupting the sand and disturbing everyone else, yes?”

“I suppose,” Nero agreed. He shifted so his tail was bunched underneath him. Perhaps it was time he went to his mother and father’s sides. “Thank yo-ack!” Nero was cut off as a weight slammed into his back and slender arms wrapped around his neck.

“Hello, Nero!” a happy voice giggled.

Nero scowled and shook his back to dislodge his young cousin. “Get off,” he growled in annoyance.

“Raelyana!” Aunt Iliene’s voice turned sharp and her eyes blazed with fury as she glowered at the young girl. “What are you doing?”

Nero glanced back at the small, six cycle Mer. Raelyana’s eyes cast downward and her colorful fins twitched. “I-I,” she stammered as she wrung her fingers together. “I just wanted to play.”

“It is incredibly impolite to barge into other Mer like that. You are not some witless adolescent hammer shark, now apologize,” Iliene snarled.

Raelyana’s pale blue eyes were wide and shiny as she turned to face Nero with a slumped posture. “I am sorry, Nero,” she murmured. “For swimming into you; it was rude of me.”

“It is alright,” Nero grumbled. He was annoyed with her, but Raelyana was harmless. Too energetic for his preferences, but he knew she meant well enough, and her mother was far rougher on her than she deserved.

“Do not slouch like that, Raelyana; it is poor form,” Aunt Iliene scolded. “Now get home, you should not be wandering around alone like this.”

“But Mother, I-”

“Now!” Iliene commanded. “Nero, you as well. The last thing your parents need is to be fretting about what you are getting up to wandering the reef. Now go. Raelyana, move it.”

His aunt turned away and began to swim off, and just like that, the moment was shattered. Raelyana hiccupped and bubbles shot from her gills.

“I am sorry, Nero,” she whimpered. She darted over to him and hugged his waist, and Nero tensed.

He shifted awkwardly and then patted her on the head. “It is okay, Rae,” he assured her. “You had better go.”

He waited until Raelyana had disappeared over the rise after her mother before he sighed. He felt bad for her and he was pretty sure most of their family agreed; they just respected his aunt too much to say anything. But she had made one valid point; he had avoided his mother and father for far too long and it was time to rectify that.

He turned and rolled his shoulders as he rose in the water. There had been far too much tugging on his dorsal, he was going to be sore the next day. He stretched and some of the ache alleviated, and then he swam off in search of his family.

He found them on the other side of the shelf, resting in the groves of some sand dunes. His father looked up first as he approached, and nodded at him. He was sitting with his tail curled to one side and his fins flicking softly. His mother was leaned against him. Her maternity fins had continued growing after the birth, and darkened to a pink-gray shade. They were now folded tightly over her chest. Her arms were curled up underneath them, but she smiled and raised one out towards him as he approached.

“Nero,” she greeted with a rasp that broke off in a cough that wracked her body. “There you are. I have been worried.”

He took her outstretched hand and settled down into the sand beside her. “I did not mean to worry you,” he replied.

His mother clucked her tongue and shook her head. “Come now, Nero; surely I do not yet look so frail that I cannot have a hug from my son?”

Nero hesitated and glanced at his father, who nodded. Nero leaned forward and wrapped an arm around his mother’s shoulders. His father reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder too.

His mother hummed with content, then stroked the side of his cheek. “These last few moons have been hard on you. I am sorry,” she murmured.

“You have been very brave over everything,” his father agreed.

Nero shook his head. It was not about bravery, and he did not feel very courageous about the past quarter moon. “Mother, please, I fear for your health,” he began as he cupped her hand in his own. “Everyone is talking about the baby and how it is very weak, and how this is hurting you. They have been saying it would be better to-”

“Nero,” his father warned in a stern tone.

“It is alright, Ixion,” his mother cut in. “Let him speak.”

“I just…I do not want to lose you,” Nero begged. It hurt to admit what was in his heart, but he squeezed his mother’s hands and brought them to his cheek.

His mother nodded. She pulled her hand free of his grasp and cupped his face. “I know what they are saying, Nero. And it is natural for you to be afraid; I am touched by your concern, but I promise it is not necessary. The baby is fine. She is small and weak and premature, yes, but she is going to live. She has begun to feed and will continue to grow. The pregnancy and birth has taken its toll on me, but I will recover.”

“The baby is going to survive?” Nero clarified.

His mother nodded. “For now. Nature can be cruel, and she is not a healthy infant, but for now, yes. She will live and with a little luck, she will grow healthy and strong.”

Nero’s heart stalled in his chest for a moment. He wanted to be happy, but he still felt so much bitter uncertainty and resentment. His mother’s gills were flaring with exertion and every movement looked strained. She pulled her hand back in order to cover her mouth as another cough wracked her form.

“But will you?” he demanded.

His mother’s gaze softened, and she nodded. “I will be alright, Nero. Cast aside your worries,” she assured him. “Be happy, Nero. You are a brother now, and you have a little sister now. You were so excited before. Surely a little hardship has not changed that?”

Nero hesitated and looked away. It had changed things.

“Nero, your little sister is going to need your love and support,” his father urged. “She is going to need all of us. You have always been a quiet, reserved child, but you have a big heart for those you choose to let in. All we are asking is that you give the baby that chance.”

“Would you like to meet her?” his mother offered. She carefully sat up a bit and bowed towards his father. “Ixion, would you?” she requested. His father leaned close and pressed a kiss to her temple before reaching gently between the fins curled tightly to her torso. As he did, the fins shifted and loosened so he could get a better hold. When he pulled away, he was holding the smallest child Nero had ever seen.

“You can hold her,” his father offered. Nero hesitated again, and then held out his arms.

“Just be gentle. Support her head and hold her close to your body,” his mother coaxed.

Nero carefully obeyed her suggestions and pulled the infant close to his torso. Her skin was pale and pinky, and her head was coated in very fine brown wisps no longer than his fingernail. Her head fit perfectly in his palm, and her tail had no scales. It was not like him, however, with his rough protective hide. Her skin was soft and delicate, and her tail was tinged a deep blue. “She has no scales,” Nero murmured.

“Not yet,” his father agreed. “But she will. They usually grow within the first few turns of the moon and sun, but hers are growing more slowly. And even when they do, they will be soft and flaky for a while. It is why it is so important to be gentle, and why baby Mer spend so much time nestled within protective fins. You know this.”

Nero gulped and nodded. He was not overly big himself, but the baby felt so tiny that he feared he would hurt her. Her tiny fin was light blue and heart shaped, with two dark blue circles with white eyes in the center. She was pretty.

As he stared at her, Nero could not help thinking about his former resentment. It was hard to hate something so small and delicate, and he thought of Raelyana. The girl was willful and disruptive and she annoyed him, but she did not deserve the hardships and hassles she got from her mother. He could not imagine what it must feel like to be so young and to feel so unwanted. What sort of life was he destining this infant too if he chose to loathe her for something she had no control over? She did deserve as best a chance at life as they could offer her. She was slumbering in his arms, and his heart melted.

“What is her name?” he asked as he glanced up at his parents.

Both of their faces were glowing with pride, but his mother’s eyes shone with pure joy as he made the inquiry. “Kera,” she replied with a bright smile. “Her name is Kera.”

Nero looked back down as the baby stirred and made a very faint whimpering sound. Her fin flapped up and hit him on the arm on the way back down. It barely felt like being tickled by a waving strand of kelp. That did not surprise him, as her fin was barely as large as his hand.

As she shifted, her eyes slowly blinked open and Nero found himself staring at the brightest blue he had ever seen. It was like looking at the brilliant crystal hues of a tranquil lagoon. The baby stared up at him silently before her lips parted to reveal pink gums, and she cooed softly.

Nero’s smile widened and he shifted his grip to waggle a finger at her. “Hello Kera,” he whispered. “I am your brother, Nero. You worried everyone, you know; gave us all a scare. You are so tiny…” he murmured, talking more to himself than to her, really. “But you do not have to worry, because I am bigger, and I will help keep you safe, little sister.”

The baby Mer blinked sleepily up at him as he spoke, and he wondered if perhaps she would simply fall back to slumber. He knew babies tended to sleep a lot.

Instead, her lips opened wider into a gaping grin and she squealed and her fin flicked again. Nero grinned openly with her.

The baby’s smile only lasted a few heartbeats before it crumpled and she began to cry. Instantly, Nero’s smile fell, and he shifted her carefully as she fussed, worried that perhaps his fang filled smile had spooked her.

“Oh,” his mother clucked her tongue and chuckled. “Here, Nero, give her to me. Oh, darling, do not look so spooked; you did nothing wrong. She is probably just hungry. She is still very little, remember.”

Nero nodded and felt a little better as he carefully passed the baby back to his mother. Within heartbeats, Rebecca had her fins curled gently around the infant once more, and the cries slowly died away.

“She smiled at me,” Nero whispered.

His mother pursed her lips and smiled, but shook her head. “Nero, she is too young yet to express emotions like that. It would not have been an actual smile, but I am sure she will smile at you plenty in the future. You are going to be such an amazing big brother.”

Nero shook his head. “She really did,” he protested. He knew his mother – as a healer who had helped with the birth of many little Mer – was not likely to believe his claim, but he held it close regardless. Most of the younger Mer were intimidated by him because of his dark coloring and quiet attitude. All of them except for Raelyana, but he was pretty sure her bubble brain feared nothing. It felt wonderful to see the little Mer smile at him.

“Perhaps she did,” his mother conceded. “I am sure it means the two of you will be the very best of friends.”

Nero nodded eagerly. She was so little, but he decided he desperately wanted her to like him as she grew. “We will,” he agreed. “You are right, she is going to need us, and I want to always be here for her,” he vowed.

His mother smiled and his father nodded, and then Nero found himself being dragged into an embrace. Usually he would squirm and protest, but just this once he let it be. They were a family, and he felt reassured that everything was going to be alright again.


End file.
